Breathe
by Belle McGrath
Summary: "I'm fine, Soda," I assured him in my most convincing tone. "It's just a cold." - But what if what Ponyboy is coming down with turns out to be something much more serious? - Ponyboy sick-fic! - Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm back! Did you miss me? :)**

 **This is a fanfiction I had been planning on writing for about a month now, but I was waiting until I was done with The Last Sunset so I didn't have too much to do and I could give my full attention to one fanfiction. So here it is! I'm going for the good old classic, "Ponyboy gets sick" fanfic. Hope it's not too cliché!**

 **I don't really have a schedule when it comes to updating, I'll try updating when I'm not busy, mostly. I'm still in school, and especially according to my parents, school comes first, so it'll all depend on how much time that takes away from me! I'll try to be as fast as possible, but please bear with me.**

 **Reviews are my favorite thing, so please feel free to leave a beautiful message telling me what you thought about the chapter! It's always highly appreciated! I also apologize for any grammar mistakes, English is my second language so I'm just doing my best over here! ;) Stay gold.**

XxX

*Pony's POV*

On school days, it's always the same routine. Darry gets up first and fixes breakfast. Sodapop gets up shortly after that, showers and gets dressed, and then he wakes me up so I can get ready after him. But that morning in late October started out a little bit different than usual.

When Sodapop woke me up, I immediately knew something was up. My head was killing me and I felt like I had razor blades in my throat.

"Hey, Pony, wake up," Soda said, shaking my shoulder slightly.

I stretched and groaned in protest. My whole body felt sore.

"Come on, Pony, Darry's gonna flip if you don't get up," Soda insisted, shaking my shoulder more firmly.

"Okay, okay, Soda, I'm up," I groaned, forcing my eyelids heavy from sleep to open.

"Someone's in a mood today," Soda said, frowning. "You feeling okay?"

He laid a hand on my forehead. I groaned inwardly. He really needed to stop worrying about me all the time.

"You seem a little warm…" he started. "Maybe I should get Darry."

"Don't," I said, sitting up in bed to try and prove that I was alright. "He's got enough on his mind. It's probably just a cold. I'll take a bunch of Aspirins before I go to school."

"Pony… Remember last time you said that…" Soda started, biting his lip.

I knew he meant the day I'd told Two-Bit I was okay to fight in the rumble, and I had ended up delirious in the hospital for three days. Sodapop and Darry barely mentioned it anymore, since it was right after Johnny and Dally died. It was still hard to think about it, so any allusions to that night was practically forbidden within the gang.

"I'm fine, Soda," I assured him in my most convincing tone. "It's just a cold."

Soda finally decided to leave it. He sighed and stood up.

"Fine," he said. "But if you are, make sure you hurry up. Darry says breakfast is ready soon."

I nodded and with that, he left the room. I stood up and was automatically hit by a wave of dizziness. I took a moment to steady myself and the feeling faded after only a few seconds. Aside from that, I felt okay. My throat and my heart hurt, but it was nothing an Aspirin or two wouldn't cure. I caught myself coughing a few times, and I did feel a little dizzy, but I figured I'd feel better as the day dragged on. I had a track meet after school and the coach was counting on me. I had barely been able to catch up since I got back to school and I couldn't afford to miss another meet.

I walked out of the room, ignoring the dizziness as I walked. I locked myself into the bathroom and took a good look at my reflection. I didn't look sick. Maybe I was a little paler than usual and my eyes seemed more shiny and tired, but I blamed it on my tired state. I showered, greased my hair as usual and got dressed. Finally, I took three aspirins from the bottle in the bathroom cabinet right before Darry called for breakfast.

"Pony, breakfast is ready!" he called as I was walking in.

"I'm right here, Dar. No need to shout," I answered, plopping down into a chair.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," Darry apologized, sitting down into the chair next to me.

Two months ago, he would've told me off for having an attitude with him, but ever since I came back from Windrixville, he's been more patient with me. He doesn't yell as much as he used to. We get along better now.

I picked at my eggs more than I ate them. I wasn't really hungry, to tell you the truth. I wasn't nauseous or anything, but I still didn't have much appetite. That seemed to catch Darry's eye.

"Not hungry, Pone?" he asked between two bites.

I was about to answer but I was interrupted by a few coughs. Darry frowned. Shit.

"You feeling okay, Pone?" he asked, settling his fork down. I exchanged a glance with Sodapop. He just shrugged and took another bite, meaning he wasn't gonna tell on me.

"I'm fine," I answered. "I'm just a little under the weather that's all."

Darry seemed to buy it.

"Well, if it gets worst throughout the day, call me at work. I'm serious. You know the number," he said, finishing his plate.

I nodded. Just then, we heard the familiar sound of the screen door slamming followed by the sound of Two-Bit's loud voice, making my head pound even more.

"Morning, Curtises!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he and Steve ran into the kitchen.

"If you keep doin' that, Two-Bit, I swear I'll be deaf before I turn eighteen," Sodapop said, walking over to the sink to get started on the dishes.

Two-Bit laughed openly at Soda's comment.

"Good morning to you too, Pepsi-Cola," Two-Bit said, patting Soda's back rather harshly.

"Hey come on, move it, Pony. You gotta get to school," Darry told me as he was putting his working boots on.

I got up, giving up on finishing my breakfast, emptied the rest of my half-eaten breakfast in the trash can before joining Sodapop in helping out with the dishes.

"Leave it, Pony," Sodapop said. "You gotta get to school."

"You sure?" I asked, suppressing a cough, my mouth still throbbing.

"Yeah, there's not much to do anyway," Soda insisted. "You sure you gonna be fine?" he added in a low voice.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Okay, but if you don't feel good and you don't wanna call Darry, call me," Soda added.

"I will," I answered.

"Come on, youngsters, enough with the lil' secret chitchat," Two-Bit interrupted loudly, the pain in my head spiking again because of him. "The world is awaiting!"

I sighed, picked up my book bag that I had left on the couch last night and was out of the door with Two-Bit and Steve, still fighting against the dizziness. The sky outside was grey and heavy with clouds. I suspected it was gonna rain sometime today.

XxX

I immediately regretted coming to school today. By the time lunch was over, I was aching everywhere, my head was killing me, my stomach felt upset, my throat hurt so bad I could barely swallow and my dizziness only seemed to be getting worst. I had on a sweater and I was still freezing. I guess I looked as bad as I felt, because when I was met by Two-Bit at my locker, his usual wisecracking grin vanished.

"You feeling okay, kid?" Two-Bit asked as I picked up my books for next period.

I sighed and leaned against the locker, the coolness of the metal against my skin providing me with some comfort.

"I feel awful," I answered honestly. There was no point in lying.

Two-Bit touched my cheek with the back of his hand and frowned.

"You're pretty hot, Pony," Two-Bit stated.

"Thanks," I said as I burst into a small fit of dry coughs.

"Maybe you should go to the nurse or something," Two-Bit suggested, ignoring my comment.

"No," I said decidedly, slamming my locker door shut. "Darry or Soda would have to get off work and we can't afford it."

"I can give you a ride home right now if you'd rather go to bed," Two-Bit offered.

I shook my head. I knew the rest of the gang had been looking out after me more than usual and as much as I appreciated the thought, sometimes I thought it was slightly annoying.

"I'm just gonna finish my afternoon. I got a track meet after school. Coach'll kick me off the team if I miss more practice," I explained.

"Pony, he'll get it if you're sick, man," Two-Bit said.

"No, he won't," I assured him. "I'll be fine, Two-Bit, I'll go home afterwards and go to bed."

"Pony, it's pouring buckets outside. You don't wanna be running in this weather if you're sick. You could get worst," Two-Bit insisted.

I was about to answer, when the bell rang.

"Don't worry about me, Two-Bit. See ya later," I said, turning around and heading straight to Biology, already looking forward to going home.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoy the second chapter! I know this is a pretty slow-paced and short chapter, but worry not! The good stuff will officially begin next chapter. :)**

 **Please leave a review letting me know what you think! Reviews are really appreciated! Stay gold.**

XxX

*Darry's POV*

I got home from work much earlier than usual today. Boss sent us home at lunch time since it was pouring buckets outside and we couldn't get any work done up on the roofs. I knew I was supposed to pick Ponyboy up from school after his track meet when I got out of work, but I figured I would just go back downtown later.

He definitely didn't look too hot this morning, I thought. His voice seemed strained, and his cough was a little worrying, not to mention he was paler than usual and he didn't have much appetite. Even though I knew I had to trust his judgement more, I couldn't help but worry. Last time he said he was fine, he had ended up in the hospital. I thought of the pouring rain outside. I hoped his coach had the common sense to make them run inside instead of outside. If Ponyboy was coming down with something, running in this weather would definitely not be beneficial.

When came the time to go pick up Ponyboy around five, Soda wasn't home yet. He had told me this morning that he was finishing at five, so I figured he would be home in the next fifteen minutes or so. I left the house to pick up my youngest brother, leaving the door unlocked for when Soda got home.

XxX

When I pulled into the school parking lot, what I saw infuriated and worried me at the same time. Ponyboy, walking down the front steps of Will Rogers High School, looking pale as a ghost, weak, soaking wet and downright miserable. He opened the passenger door and engulfed into the warmth of the car, shivering from head to toe.

"He made you guys run outside?" I said in disbelief, trying to control my temper as I drove out of the parking lot.

"Yeah-" Ponyboy answered. His voice was cut short by a fit of coughing. His voice sounded hoarse. He was shivering pretty bad.

"I can't believe it," I said, anger filling my voice.

We stopped at a red light and I shot a sideway glance at my youngest brother in the seat next to me. His head was leaning against the window and his eyes were closed. He looked utterly miserable. I stretched out my arm across the seat and rested my hand on his cheek. My eyes widened.

"Ponyboy, I think you're burning up," I said, eyebrows furrowing in worry.

Ponyboy only coughed in response.

"When we get home, I want you to take a warm shower, I want you to change out of your wet clothes and take some Aspirin and I want you to go to bed, am I clear?" I said as I kept driving.

Usually, Ponyboy would've protested. He hated going to bed during the day. He must've felt really bad because he only nodded.

"How long have you been feeling like that?" I asked.

"Lunchtime," Ponyboy mumbled.

"Why didn't you call me?" I exclaimed angrily.

Ponyboy winced at the sound of my voice rising. His head must be killing him.

"Coach'll kick me off the team if I miss more practice," he answered.

"Pony," I started. I took a deep breath. Don't get mad, I thought. "I understand how much you care about athletics, and I was the same, but your health has got to come first, do you hear me?"

Ponyboy nodded, his eyes closed.

"If you ever get worse than that, I swear I'm gonna have a word or two with your coach," I threatened as we pulled in front of our house.

Ponyboy didn't say anything in response. He slowly opened his eyes, pulled his head off the window, picked up his bag and slowly pulled out of the car. I followed him into the house, almost worried he would fall, since he looked so weak.

We both walked into the house to hear Sodapop fixing dinner in the kitchen.

"I'm home!" I called.

"Hey, Dar!" Soda called back from the kitchen.

Ponyboy didn't say anything. He just walked right past the kitchen and locked himself into the bathroom. I walked into the kitchen to find Sodapop frowning questioningly.

"He's worse?" he asked as I joined him in the preparation of the dinner.

"Yeah," I answered. "The coach made them run outside in the rain."

Sodapop's eyes widened.

"You gotta be kidding me," he said in disbelief.

"I wish I was," I answered, rolling my eyes.

"How is he?" Sodapop asked, nodding towards the bathroom door, where the sound of the shower running came from.

"Well he was shivering like crazy earlier, his head hurts and he seems to have a fever. His cough is the worrying part though."

"Darry, it's probably just the flu. Don't worry too much about it," Soda said in a reassuring voice.

We went back to preparing dinner as we heard the shower turn off. A few minutes later, Ponyboy walked out only to disappear into his bedroom.

"Ponyboy!" I called.

"Yeah?" he called, his voice sounding hoarse, probably irritated from coughing so much.

"Come here, I wanna take your temperature," I said.

"Hang on," he answered. I dropped what I was doing and Sodapop took over and I went into the bathroom to get the thermometer. I walked out of the bathroom just as Ponyboy walked out of his bedroom, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. He was still shaking pretty bad.

"C'mere, Pone," I said more gently. I lead him to the kitchen and made him sat on one of the chairs. Sodapop glanced over and his face immediately displayed worry. He dropped what he was doing to sit down in the chair next to Pony.

"Why didn't you call me, Pone?" Soda asked.

"Darry already wrung me, alright?" Pony shrugged. He was really pale except for his cheeks that were bright pink. His eyes were shiny and bleary and he was still raked with chills.

"Dar, can I just go to bed?" he asked, his voice sounding vulnerable.

"Let me just take your temperature, Pone. Open up," I instructed.

Ponyboy complied and I slipped the thermometer under his tongue. He closed his mouth and held it there for a few minutes. Sodapop brushed Pony's wet hair back, trying to comfort him as much as possible.

"101.4," I said, pulling the thermometer out. "Did you take some Aspirin?"

Ponyboy nodded.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

Ponyboy shook his head.

"Okay, well, why don't you go to bed?" I suggested.

Ponyboy nodded, too weak to protest. He slowly stood up and walked out of the room at the same pace.

"Should we call the doctor?" Soda asked me.

"Let's see how he feels tomorrow, we'll see then," I answered, getting back to work on dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

*Pony's POV*

I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. I was too exhausted to even read a book. I slept through the entire night without waking up. I didn't even notice Sodapop getting in bed next to me later in the evening, so when I woke up early the next morning, I was momentarily surprised to see him, sprawled out next to me. Momentarily, because it only took a second or two for me to notice how terrible I was feeling.

I was drenched in a cold sweat and felt hot under all the blankets on me. Sodapop or Darry must've added one or two, because I didn't remember having this many last night. Everything seemed to hurt. My whole body felt like it had been hit by a car, but my chest hurt most of all, which was slightly panicking. My chest burned and seemed tight and every breath felt strained. I suddenly started coughing, but not the same coughing as last night. It sounded more wet and rattling. I couldn't seem to stop so I propped myself on one elbow to make sure I didn't choke or anything, struggling to get air into my lungs.

I didn't even know Soda was awake until I felt his hand rubbing my back. I finally managed to stop coughing and took a deep breath.

"Soda-" I croaked out miserably.

"Shhh, Pony, don't talk," Sodapop answered as he helped me lie back down.

"I don't feel good," I moaned, ignoring Soda's command, my breathing rapid and shallow.

"I know, Pony, lemme get Darry, alright? Just relax," he said, getting out of bed, seemingly wide awake.

I nodded as he left the room. I usually would've at least tried to pretend I was alright, but I felt too bad to even do that. Sodapop came back with a drowsy-looking Darry, his hair grease-free and completely out of control. He took one look at me and I must've looked as bad as I felt because all fatigue washed away from his eyes in a second. He was at my side in a second.

"Glory, Pony!" he said. I coughed twice in response. Two long, rattling, painful coughs. I winced and so did Darry. He laid a hand on my forehead.

"Soda, get me the thermometer," Darry said calmly, but I could hear the worry in his voice. "What hurts, Pony?" Darry asked more gently as Soda left the room.

"Everything-" My voice was cut off by another fit of painful coughs. "Chest, mostly." I added, my voice cracking mid-sentence.

"It's alright, try not to talk now, okay?" Darry said, brushing my hair back.

Sodapop came back in with the thermometer and handed it to Darry.

"Can you sit up for me?" Darry asked. I nodded. I sat up and was quickly hit by a wave of dizziness. I tried to ignore it, though. I didn't want to complain too much.

"Open up," Darry instructed. I opened my mouth and he slipped the thermometer under my tongue and I held it there as Darry shifted to sit slightly behind me. I could hardly believe how even sitting up was tiring. I usually got pretty clingy when I was sick, and Darry and Soda both knew that. My head felt heavy, so I leaned on Darry's shoulder and chest, waiting for the mercury to stop climbing. I closed my eyes, fighting to suppress a cough and after a few minutes, Darry pulled the thermometer out of my mouth.

"102.2," he said. "Looks like you're not going to school today, Pony."

I would've rejoiced if I didn't feel so bad. Darry helped me back in bed and tucked the sheets under my chin.

"Go back to sleep, Pony. I'll call the doctor and I'll take the day off and take care of you, alright?" Darry said.

"No, Darry, don't, we can't afford-" my voice was cut short by a fit of coughing.

"Pony, it's not negotiable. Your health comes before the money. You need looking after, alright?" Darry answered.

I sighed, resigning. Boy, was I tired.

"Go back to sleep, okay? I'll be there when you wake up," Darry said. "Soda, get ready for work." he added in direction of my other brother.

"How come you're the one who gets to stay with Pony?" Soda protested.

"Let's not start this, okay?" Darry glared at Sodapop. Soda didn't seem too happy about going to work but he didn't insist.

Darry left the room to go call the doctor and Soda to go take a shower and as soon as they left, I was out like a light.

XxX

*Darry's POV*

I was fixing breakfast in the kitchen for Sodapop and I when Steve and Two-Bit erupted into the house, slamming the door loudly behind them. I had decided to wait until everybody was gone before calling the doctor. I didn't want to make a scene and I didn't want anyone to worry more than they had to.

"Gooooood moooorning-" Two-Bit started. I dropped what I was doing and stomped into the living room.

"Cut it out, Two-Bit," I snapped. "Pony ain't feeling well."

Two-Bit immediately stopped. First, because he knew better than to get smart with me, second because he seemed worried about Ponyboy.

"Yeah, he seemed to be in pretty rough shape yesterday," Two-Bit said.

"Hey, could you guys give Soda a lift to the DX?" I asked. "I have to take the day off to stay with Pony and I'd lend him the truck, but if ever I need it…"

I didn't say it was in case I had to take Pony to the hospital, but Two-Bit seemed to catch on.

"Sure, no problem, Dar," he shrugged. Steve, on the other hand, snorted.

"Something wrong, Steve?" I asked.

"You're actually gonna take the day off?" he said as Sodapop opened the bathroom door and disappeared to him and Pony's room. "I mean, he's obviously faking it, seeking attention or something."

I was about to open my mouth to retort or even pound his head in when I heard it; Ponyboy coughing. The noise could be heard in the entire house.

"Darry you better get in here!" Soda called. My heart leapt. I ran in the hallway and into Ponyboy's room, Two-Bit and Steve following behind me.

Sodapop was rubbing Ponyboy's back and Ponyboy was sat up, doubled in half, coughs rattling through his entire body, barely getting time to grab some air, seemingly in pain without being able to make it stop. His cheeks were bright red and his entire body was drenched in sweat. I was at my brother's side in a second.

"Pony, it's okay," Soda kept whispering in his ear. He looked at me and I could see panic in his eyes. I felt helpless.

"Ow-" Ponyboy moaned before resuming his coughing fit. It seemed as though it would never stop. He coughed to the point where he started gagging. Sodapop was quick enough to grab the trash can next to the bed and place it in Pony's lap right before Ponyboy started emptying the contents of his stomach, which wasn't much, to tell you the truth. Sodapop held the trash can in place and I rubbed Pony's back, brushing his hair back as his whole body convulsed with each heave. He dry heaved for a few seconds before he finally pulled himself together.

I took one look at Steve and I immediately knew he regretted saying what he said. Ponyboy shivered in disgust and spat into the trash can. He started crying softly in embarrassment, noticing for the first time the presence of the gang in the room. He was ashamed. I gave the two greasers a look and they both left the room without a word.

Sodapop took the trash can from Ponyboy and left to clean it as I pulled Ponyboy into my arms. Pony was shaking and crying.

"Shhh… It's alright, Pony. You're just sick, that's all," I whispered in his ear. I was pretty shook up, to tell you the truth. Ponyboy, as clingy as he was, always acted tough about getting sick. He must be really hurting for him to be crying. "Go back to sleep, alright? I'll call the doctor right now, okay?"

Ponyboy nodded, sniffing, taking deep breaths after his big coughing fit, slowly regaining his breath. I helped him back in bed and surprisingly, as soon as Ponyboy's head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep.

XxX

I waited until Sodapop, Steve and Two-Bit had left and called at the school to let them know Ponyboy was sick right before calling our family doctor. He knew our family really well, since he had been our doctor since I was born.

"Hello, Dr. Miller speaking," answered a male voice.

"Hello, Dr. Miller, this is Darrel Curtis Jr," I greeted.

"Oh, hello, Darrel," the doctor greeted. "How may I help you?"

"Well, I think my brother is coming down with something, and I was calling to schedule an appointment," I explained.

"Is it Sodapop?" he asked.

"No, Ponyboy, the youngest one," I answered.

"Okay, what are his symptoms?" Dr. Miller asked.

"He's got a fever of 102.2, he's coughing a lot and he's been complaining about his chest hurting when he breathes. He also threw up this morning, but I'm thinking it was because he was coughing so much," I enumerated.

"When you say coughing, do you mean a dry cough or a wet, rattling cough?" Dr. Miller asked, getting more specific.

"Yesterday, it was more of a dry cough, and since this morning, it's more wet and rattling, I'd say," I answered.

"When did his symptoms first appear?" Dr. Miller added.

"Yesterday, morning, sir," I replied.

"Okay, well, I should be there tomorrow morning around nine o'clock. Could you remind me your address again?"

I gave Dr. Miller my address, thanked him and hung up. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. Whatever Ponyboy had couldn't be good, that was for sure.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! I wanted to apologize for the long wait, I was busy all last week since I'm president of my school's drama club and I had to organize signups and meetings and auditions and all that kind of stuff and I was sick all weekend! I took the time to write two chapters yesterday so chapter five should be up really soon (a day or two). :)**

 **I'm posting this chapter from school because I'm a rebel, and I have my laptop with me, so haha! Hope you enjoy, please leave a review letting me know what you think! Stay gold.**

XxX

*Soda's POV*

Going to work today was really a pain. Usually, I didn't mind. I actually loved it, since I got to spend the day fixing cars in the garage and when I wasn't doing that, I would flirt with the hot chicks who came by the station to see Steve and I. But today, my mind was elsewhere. I kept thinking of Ponyboy, how he had frightened me this morning. I remember my heart jumping into my throat when I saw him sitting up in bed, coughing uncontrollably. I may be no expert, but I didn't need a college degree to know that coughing to the point of getting sick wasn't good. I was more and more certain that Ponyboy didn't have the flu, and that was the scary part. Some skank I knew from grade school dropped by with her friends, and some of them were real lookers, but I was too distracted to make any flirty comments.

Today was a slow day, so Boss decided to let Steve and I leave early, saying he'd take care of closing up. There was a drag race just outside of town tonight, but Steve didn't ask me if I wanted to go. He knew me well enough to know I wanted to be home with my brother. The DX was only a few blocks away from home, so Steve and I walked together. We were lucky enough not to meet any Socs on our way back.

We both walked into the house (being careful not to slam the door in case Pony was asleep) and we heard Darry getting dinner ready in the kitchen.

"Hey, Dar," I greeted as Steve walked past me and grabbed a beer in the ice box and sat down at the table to drink it. "How's Pony?"

"A little better than this morning," Darry answered. "He slept most of the day, and I got him to eat a little around lunchtime, but he's still coughing like crazy."

His last statement was emphasized by a series of loud coughs coming from Ponyboy's bedroom.

"His temperature's not going down, though," Darry added, biting his lip nervously.

"When's the doctor gonna be here?" I asked.

"Tomorrow morning, around nine," my older brother answered. "It's supposed to rain in the early morning so I only work tomorrow afternoon. D'you think you could take the day off?"

"I don't think boss would mind, I've barely missed a day," I said.

"Steve, you eating here?" Darry asked over his shoulder, glancing at my best friend sitting at the table, all anger from this morning forgotten.

"Might as well, old man kicked me out this morning and I ain't itchin' to get my ass kicked," Steve answered, shrugging and taking another swig of his beer. I heard more coughing from Ponyboy's room and winced at how painful they sounded.

"Someone better check on the kid," Steve pointed out.

"Soda, can you?" asked Darry. "I gotta finish up here."

"Sure, Dar," I answered.

I left the room as Steve and Darry launched into a conversation about God-knows-what and quietly slipped into Pony and I's bedroom.

Ponyboy looked utterly miserable. He was wheezing and gasping for air, and he coughed every thirty seconds or so. He was still covered in a cold sweat, his hair grease-free, which was all over the place. He was pale but his cheeks were bright pink.

"Soda?" he croaked out when he saw me. I winced at the sound of his voice. He sounded like a mix between someone who smoked four packs of cigarettes and someone who's been screaming. A lot.

"Yeah it's me, baby," I said gently, sitting down next to him and running my fingers through his hair. "Are you feeling any better?"

"I ain't feeling too hot, to be honest," he answered, his statement followed by a coughing fit.

"Yeah, I know," I said, resting a hand on his forehead, which was still fairly warm. "Did Darry tell you he called the doctor?"

"Yeah," Ponyboy answered. "He didn't need to, though."

"Don't be ridiculous, Pone. Doctor Miller is just gonna check on you to make sure you're gonna be alright. He's gonna make you feel better faster than we ever could, savvy?"

Pony nodded.

"If he sticks me with a needle, I swear to God…" he said.

I laughed lightly. Pony was secretly afraid of needles since he was a little kid. I remember when I was seven, Mom took both him and me to get a shot at the doctor's and he threw a fit so bad that he spent a good twenty minutes in there until the Doctor Miller was finally able to give him his shot. He's not as bad now, but I remember when he was twelve and he had fell off his bike. Dad took him to the hospital and when he was told he had to get stitches on his scraped knee, he started bawling right there in the room. He kept his secret well hidden from the gang, but Darry and I were both well aware of that fact.

"You're gonna be fine, Pone," I said. "I'll go help Darry with dinner and we'll bring you a plate later, okay?"

"Don't bother, I'm not hungry," Pony shrugged.

"Pony, you have to eat. Just try, okay?" I insisted.

He sighed and nodded.

"Holler if you need anything, alright?" I added as I got to the door.

He nodded again and with that, I left the room, leaving him to rest.

XxX

I woke up with a start. It was well into the night. I had spent the rest of the evening playing cards with Steve, Two-Bit (who joined us later) and Darry. Steve ended up crashing on the couch and I slipped into bed next to Pony that night, careful not to wake him up.

I was starting to wonder what had woken me up, but I only had to look to my right and I had my answer. Ponyboy was drenched in sweat, trashing around in bed, his features crisp, whimpering occasionally, his breathing heavy and fast. He was having a nightmare.

"Pony, wake up," I said, instantly wide awake. I only had to touch his shoulder gently and he reacted violently.

His eyes shot open and he started screaming bloody murder and struggling to get away from me, as though my hand was a threat. I was scared he would fall off the bed or that he would make himself worse so I forced him into my chest, arms wrapped firmly around him as he kept struggling. He didn't seem to recognize me.

"Shh, baby it's me. It's Soda, little buddy," I whispered in his ear.

Something in Ponyboy's mind must've clicked, because he immediately stopped screaming and struggling. His screams were quickly replaced by quiet sobs as I kept holding him. Darry erupted into the room at that precise moment, eyes bewildered. Steve was at the doorway too, but when he saw what had happened, he left us alone, going back to the couch in the living room.

"Soda," Pony started, his voice muffled against my chest.

"Shhh… it's okay, calm down, now," I said, stroking his hair. I was only starting to relax myself. I was starting to believe I would never get used to him waking up from nightmares like that.

"Soda, I'm freezing," Pony added.

Only then did I realize just how abnormally hot Pony was. He was shaking, but immense heat radiated from his entire body, making me feel too hot myself. I exchanged one look with Darry and he looked as worried as I felt.

"Pony, lemme take your temperature," Darry ordered, grabbing the thermometer from Ponyboy's nightstand.

I helped Ponyboy turn around and let him lie on my chest as Darry inserted the thermometer into his mouth.

"102.8," Darry announced. "Your fever went up, Pone."

Pony only coughed and groaned in response.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Darry said, getting up. "Lie back down."

Darry left the room and I helped Ponyboy settle back into his pillows, tucking him in to try to relieve some of his shaking.

"Do you wanna talk about your dream?" I asked, settling down next to him.

He shook his head.

"Don't remember," he mumbled.

Darry came back into the room with an ice cap bag and gently set it on Pony's head.

"Go back to sleep, alright?" Darry answered. "The doctor will be here in the morning."

Pony nodded, eyes already drooping from sleep. I scooted closer and draped an arm over his body, knowing this would comfort him enough to go back to sleep after his nightmare. I fell back asleep after a while too, thinking that a visit from Dr. Miller would be very welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! I felt too bad to make you wait longer since you've been waiting for a long time to find out about Pony's illness so here it is! Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Please leave a review letting me know what you think! Stay gold. x**

XxX

*Pony's POV*

I woke up the next morning to someone gently shaking my shoulder.

"Pony?" Darry's voice asked. "Pony, wake up, the doctor's here."

My heart jumped in my chest. God, I hated doctors. I was pretty sure he was gonna have to give me a needle since I was that sick. I opened my eyes slowly and spotted Darry and Soda, on either side of the bed, Soda sitting cross-legged on his side of the bed and Dr. Miller standing right behind Darry.

"Hello, Ponyboy," he greeted with a smile.

I tried to answer, but broke into a fit of coughing, which sent a sharp pain in my chest and I winced. The doctor frowned.

"That doesn't sound good," he said. "Darrel, would you mind going on the other side of the bed so I can do my examination?"

"Of course," Darry answered. He got up and pushed my desk chair over to the bed so the doctor could sit on it. He then settled next to Soda on the same side. The doctor opened his briefcase on the floor. I tried to see what he was picking up but his hands were out of my sight. Soda must've noticed how nervous I was getting 'cause he gently squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"I'm just going to start by taking your temperature, Ponyboy," Dr. Miller said, taking out a mercury thermometer. I looked at the colour. It wasn't yellow. Thank God it wasn't a rectal one. "Open up."

I complied and the doctor slipped the thermometer into my mouth. I waited for a few minutes, struggling to suppress a cough. I ended up coughing a few times with my mouth closed anyway.

"103.1," Dr. Miller stated as he took the thermometer out of my mouth, noting the number on a chart. "What was it the last time you took it?"

"102.8," Darry answered. The doctor nodded and noted that too.

He rummaged through his briefcase some more and took out a stethoscope. He made me take my shirt off and proceeded to listen to my chest, and then he made me turn on my front so he could listen to my lungs. He took a few notes and then he took out a sample pot and instructed me to spit into it, which I did. He sealed the pot and then he took out what I didn't want him to take out: A cotton ball, antiseptic, and a needle and syringe. I froze. He looked at me and I knew he remembered all the times I had burst into tears in his office or at home. I didn't want to cry this time. I knew everyone in this room had seen it all, but I still wanted to act tough about it.

"Now, Ponyboy, this is not an injection, I just need to take a blood sample in order to find out what's making you sick," Dr. Miller said.

A lump formed in my throat. Even though blood samples weren't as bad as injections, I was still terrified of them. I tried to swallow the lump back down but it wasn't working.

"Could you extend your arm out please?" Dr. Miller asked.

I looked at Soda and Darry with wide eyes. I wanted to be cool with it, I really did, but I couldn't make myself comply to the doctor's request. Soda seemed to gather because he lied down next to me, him being propped up on one elbow. He gently grabbed my wrist and unfolded my arm so the inside of my elbow was exposed to Dr. Miller. As the doctor dabbed the area with cotton ball soaked in antiseptic, I let out a panicked whimper and had the reflex to try and fold my arm. Soda's grip on my wrist, however, was firmer than I thought, because he had my arm pinned down on the bed. Being restrained and unable to escape was all it took for me to lose it. I panicked. My breath caught up in my throat and my eyes welled up with tears. I tried to pull it together but I couldn't, especially since the doctor was getting the needle ready next to me. He approached the needle to my arm and I started struggling against Soda.

"Pony, it'll hurt more if you don't relax your arm," I heard Darry say.

"It'll be quick, Ponyboy," the doctor assured.

I tried to relax as much as possible, staring at the ceiling, but as I felt the needle pierce my skin, I couldn't help it. I started crying. I probably would've been more calm if I wasn't already feeling so bad. A blood draw was longer than an injection, and through the entire procedure, Sodapop was whispering sweet nothings into my ear while still holding my arm firmly in place. When the needle went out, Soda kept holding my wrist as the doctor taped a small cotton pad to the area to absorb the blood.

"You did great, Ponyboy," Dr. Miller assured with a smile. That was enough to make me calm down and stop crying. I dried my tears hurriedly with the back of my hand, sniffed and coughed. "We're all done, now. Why don't you go back to sleep and I'll have a word with your brothers?"

I nodded, feeling small and vulnerable. I felt stupid for breaking down, but I couldn't get myself to pull it together whenever there were needles around. Soda squeezed my arm before following the doctor and Darry out the door. I sank back into my pillows, feeling exhausted.

XxX

*Darry's POV*

We closed the door to Ponyboy's room on our way out, not wanting to disturb him. He could really use all the rest he could get. The doctor sat down on the end of the armchair in the living room and Soda and I sat down next to each other on the couch.

"So, what's wrong with him?" Soda asked. I put a hand on his knee and squeezed to get him to relax and be more patient.

"Well, when you called, Darrel, it sounded like the common symptoms of the flu," Dr. Miller started.

"…And now?" I asked, feeling my heart pounding. Could it be something worse?

"Well, his cough and his shallow breathing is really worrying, and by the sound of his lungs, there seems to be some liquid obstructing his breathing. I'm pretty sure Ponyboy started out with the flu, but now, it seems like he has pneumonia, resulting from a complication with his illness," Dr. Miller said gravely.

I froze. Pneumonia. People died from pneumonia. Of course, most people made it through, but most people required hospital treatment, and we had barely finished paying Ponyboy's hospital stay from when Johnny and Dally died. We couldn't really afford it.

"Since his symptoms only started two days ago, I'm pretty sure it was detected early enough for him to be treated at home, but I'll have to send the samples to the lab to identify the type of pneumonia he has and if there are germs in his bloodstream," the doctor went on.

"What can we do for him?" I asked.

"Well, the most important things are going to make sure he stays in bed for at least a week, and that he gets plenty of rest. Get him to eat as much as possible to keep his energy level up, but if he can't keep anything down, at least get him to drink something. Dehydration will send him straight to the hospital in his condition. I'll also prescribe some oral antibiotics for him to take two times a day and a codeine cough syrup too. Only give him the syrup if he coughs to the point where he throws up or can't sleep because coughing can actually help his lungs get rid of the mucus," Dr. Miller explained as I tried to remember everything he was saying.

He wrote down two prescriptions and handed them to me, which I picked up.

"You can collect them at the pharmacy," the doctor said. "Do you have any questions?"

"When should we take him to the hospital, if anything happens?" I asked.

"Considering his state, his fever could spike up to 104, so I'd wait until it gets to about 104.5 before taking him to the hospital. Also, if his fingers or his lips get bluish, it's a sure sign of under oxygenation and in that case, he'll need oxygen therapy, so take him to the hospital if that happens as well."

"Is he contagious? Can I still sleep with him?" Soda asked.

Dr. Miller smiled at him.

"It takes a really weak immune system for someone to catch pneumonia. Most people are able to avoid it. In his case, his pneumonia started out as the flu. I believe you received your flu shot a few weeks ago?"

"We both did," Soda answered. "It was mandatory for our jobs. Ponyboy didn't want it though, since…"

He didn't need to add more. The doctor understood what he meant.

"Well, in that case, I don't see any reason for you to stop sleeping in Ponyboy's room. It might even be better to have someone staying with him during the night to make sure he doesn't have any trouble breathing," Dr. Miller explained.

"By the way, I'm really sorry about his behavior earlier…" I started. I felt like I had to apologize. Ponyboy was fourteen and he was still throwing fits about needles. To my surpriss Dr. Miller laughed.

"Oh, don't worry about that, boys. He's not the first and last one," he assured.

I smiled. I liked Dr. Miller. A regular doctor would've given a spanking a long time ago to a child behaving like Ponyboy, but he didn't believe in that. He was always understanding and patient. I knew Ponyboy liked him, even though he'd never say it. The doctor stood up and Soda and I took it as a signal to stand up as well.

"Well, I'll be going now," Dr. Miller said, walking towards the door. "I should have the samples ready for tonight, so I'll call as soon as I know the results. I'll be back at 9AM in two days, so Monday, to check on his progress, is that alright?"

"That's fine," I answered. "I don't know who will be working but someone will be here for sure."

"Yeah, about that," the doctor added as he opened the door. "I know he's fourteen but he shouldn't be left alone, even for a few hours, alright? Pneumonia can be really dangerous."

"We won't leave him, thank you Dr. Miller," I said.

The doctor greeted us goodbye and left us to our daily activities. Soda had taken the day off to take care of Ponyboy, so I went to get ready for work as he went to check on his baby brother. We met again in the hallway five minutes later, him closing Pony's door softly behind him and me all dressed in my work clothes.

"How is he?" I asked.

"Sleeping," Soda answered.

"Good," I commented. "I'm gonna run to the pharmacy and get his prescriptions, and then I'm off to work, could you take care of giving it to him?"

"Sure," Soda answered. "I'll fix you something for lunch while you're gone."

"Thanks, little buddy," I said. I grabbed my keys and was out the door in a second, taking the little time I had left before work to go get what my brother needed.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! I apologize again for the suuuper long wait! I do have two very good reason! I had auditions all week for my school's production of Beauty and the Beast, and I'm really hoping to get Belle, since it's my last year of high school and all! Also, I've been really busy planning another fanfic which should be up shortly after this one is finished! I'm not giving you many details, but it's set before the Curtis parents die and it's basically about Ponyboy and Curly getting unexpectedly in big trouble over something! Stay tuned for more details! :D**

 **Please leave a review letting me know what you think about this chapter! Big love! Stay gold. x**

XxX

*Soda's POV*

The rest of the day went by pretty slowly. When Darry left for work, I gave Ponyboy the pills my older brother had brought back from the pharmacy and told him everything the doctor said. Pony's meds made him dizzy and sleepy so he spent the whole day sleeping fitfully. I managed to wake him up a few times to get him to take a sip of water, to keep track of his temperature and, using a whole lot of begging and coaxing, Darry and I managed to make him eat a little bit at dinner time.

I was watching TV in the living room, Pony's coughs occasionally resonating in the whole house when the phone rang. Darry went to pick it up and I lowered the volume of the TV. Darry talked in a low voice for a few minutes, so low I could barely pick up what he was saying from my spot on the floor in front of the TV. When he finally hung up, I looked at him and cocked up one eyebrow, asking for an explanation.

"It was the doctor," Darry said. My stomach twisted.

"What'd he say?" I asked, turning off the TV altogether.

"Pony does have pneumonia, according to the test results," Darry explained. "But it was detected early and he doesn't have germs in his bloodstream, so he says that if he keeps taking his meds and stays in bed until his fever disappears for at least twenty-four hours, he should be fine."

"D'you think he could get worse than what he already is?" I asked, voicing the fear I had kept hidden.

"It's hard to tell," Darry sighed, plopping down on the couch. "He's already started on antibiotics but we still have trouble getting him to eat and drink, and his fever doesn't seem to be changing. We'll just have to wait a few days and see. Dr. Miller will be back on Monday anyway."

I nodded, trying not to get too worried. I inquired about whether Darry was working tomorrow, and found out that way that both of us had the day off. We exchanged other comments and a few hours later, I decided to go to bed, slipping next to my abnormally warm baby brother.

XxX

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone coughing. I sat up groggily in bed, knowing Ponyboy was awake. However, it took me a few seconds to notice that my brother's side of the bed was empty, the covers thrown everywhere, that the coughs seemed to be coming from another room and that the hallway outside our bedroom was flooded in soft yellow light. It took me a few more seconds to remember that according to the doctor, Ponyboy was supposed to stay in bed. That last part was what woke me up completely.

I threw the covers out of the way and jumped out of bed. I followed where the light and the coughs were coming from, which led me to the bathroom. The door was cracked open. I knocked on the door softly before pushing it open.

"Pony?" I called softly, eyes squinting at the sudden light. "Oh my God," I added, heart wrenching at the sight of him.

Ponyboy was sitting on the floor and leaning on the bathtub, knees brought up to his chest, curled up in a ball, seemingly unable to stop coughing. In the light, I could see that he was extremely pale, except for his cheeks that were a bright shade of pink. His entire body and was drenched in sweat and his t-shirt was hanging limply on his shoulders. He looked up when he saw me and I could see that his eyes were shiny and bleary, filled with panic as he was having trouble breathing.

I dropped down next to him and wondered what to do, unable to think of anything.

"What are you doing out of bed?" I asked.

"Didn't wanna wake you up-" he said in a strained voice. He drew in a big, wheezing breath before resuming his coughing.

"What's going on?" came a voice from the doorway. Ponyboy seemed to have woken up Darry as well.

"He ain't well, Dar," I said. As I was saying that, Pony's coughs turned to gagging once again and he started throwing up before he could even reach over the toilet bowl right next to him, resulting in vomit on his chin, clothes, and on the floor and the toilet seat. He moaned and continued emptying the contents of his stomach in the toilet as I rubbed his back through his soaked t-shirt. He dry-heaved for a few moments before he finally stopped. He spat in the toilet, shaking and gasping for air. Tears were streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, looking at the mess he made on him and on the floor.

"Oh, Pony, don't you worry about that, alright?" I told him.

I hadn't even noticed Darry leaving the room until he came back with an extra t-shirt and a glass of water.

"Let's get you cleaned up, alright?" Darry said in a gentle voice he only uses when he's really worried.

He flushed the toilet and helped Ponyboy sit on the edge of the tub. Pony was still crying, shaking and gasping for air, puke all over his clothes and chin. The sight was heartbreaking. Darry left to grab the cleaning supplies and I grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom closet. I soaked the washcloth with cold water from the sink and wrung it. I helped Pony out of his dirty clothes until he was just in his underwear before wiping the vomit off his face with the washcloth. I gave him the glass of water, which he took a few grateful sips from and I helped him in the t-shirt Darry had brought, which was way too big for him.

"Take Pony back to bed and give him the syrup, will you? I'm gonna clean this up and then I'll be right there," Darry said.

"I can clean it," Pony started.

"Don't be ridiculous, Pone," I said immediately. I picked him up in my arms and carried him to our bedroom as he snuggled closer to me.

I gently laid him down on the bed and tucked him in.

"I'll be right back, stay awake for me, okay?" I said. Ponyboy nodded. I knew it was the middle of the night and his willpower to stay awake was limited so I was quick to go grab a spoon in the kitchen and come back in Pony and I's room.

"Can you sit up for me?" I asked. Pony pulled himself up in sitting position, head drooping forward, looking completely out of it. I was starting to open the bottle when Pony stopped me.

"I don't want it," he said simply as Darry was walking in carrying the half-full glass of water, apparently done with cleaning up the bathroom.

"You have to, Pone," I tried to convince him.

"That thing tastes disgusting and I ain't having it," he said simply.

I looked up at Darry. He instructed me to switch places with him and he sat down next to Pony, taking the bottle and the spoon from my hands. He would probably have better results than me with this kind of thing. I watched him pour the disgusting-looking liquid into the spoon, ignoring the look on Pony's face.

"Open up, Pone," he said, approaching the spoon to his mouth. Ponyboy looked at the syrup, wrinkled his nose and turned his head away.

"Pony, you have to take it, I'm not giving you the choice," Darry said more firmly.

Pony moaned, his lips firmly sealed in protest.

"Ponyboy, none of that, okay? The doctor gave us that so it could make you feel better," Darry insisted, grabbing Pony's chin with his free hand and forcing his head to face the spoon. "Open up."

Ponyboy shook his head.

"Fine, have it your way." With that, Darry grabbed Pony's jaw and pressed down on it, forcing Pony's mouth opened before slipping the spoon into Pony's mouth. Ponyboy's entire face wrinkled in disgust and he struggled to swallow the syrup down.

"That wasn't nice," Pony said simply after he finally managed to swallow, shivering in disgust.

"Sorry, kiddo, but you didn't give me any choice," Darry shrugged, grabbing the cup of water from the floor and handing it to Pony so he could wash out the taste. "Now, go back to sleep, okay? You'll feel better in the morning."

Pony shrugged, slightly insulted after having cough syrup forced down his throat. He laid back down and I slipped in bed next to him, exhausted. What I didn't know then was how wrong Darry was about Ponyboy feeling better. After tonight, we all thought Pony couldn't get any worse.

How very wrong we were.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Greetings! I just wanted to say, for those who were wondering, I did get Belle in Beauty and the Beast and I am THRILLED! But anyway, hahaha! Here's chapter seven, I really hope you enjoy it! Lots and lots of fluff coming up! Stay gold.**

 **Please feel free to leave a review letting me know what you think! :) x**

XxX

The next morning, I woke up later than usual. I was slightly surprised when I didn't hear Ponyboy coughing. I stretched groggily in bed, still exhausted from last night's ordeal and slowly rolled around underneath the covers so I was facing my brother.

Ponyboy was still asleep, his breathing coming out short and ragged. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if the simple act of breathing was painful for him. He wasn't covered in sweat anymore. It was as though all the sweat had evaporated. I tried to slip out of bed quietly, mindful of not waking him up, but before I could make it out of bed, he stirred, eyebrows furrowing even more. He took a deep, tired breath, interrupted by a hard cough that made him wince. He moaned.

"Soda?" he called, his eyes still shut.

"Yeah, little buddy?" I said, shifting closer to him, sitting up in bed.

"Why's it so cold n'here?" he mumbled, eyes fluttering beneath his eyelids, but remaining closed. I frowned. It wasn't cold in the room. At all.

"Pony, are you feeling okay?" I asked, thinking immediately that this was a stupid question. Of course he wasn't okay. Ponyboy whimpered in response. He was gasping for air. I laid a hand on his forehead. He was burning hot.

"Darry?" I called.

Darry didn't have to ask. He knew by now that it was about Ponyboy. I heard footsteps coming from the kitchen and seconds later, Darry walked into the room.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting directly across from me, next to Ponyboy on the bed.

"He's boiling hot, but he says he's cold," I explained.

Darry laid a hand on Ponyboy's hot and dry forehead, and then on his cheeks and his neck. He frowned in worry. He grabbed the thermometer from the nightstand.

"Pony?" he asked in his most gentle voice, brushing Ponyboy's hair back.

"Dar?" Ponyboy croaked out.

"Yeah, it's me," Darry answered.

"Darry, I don' feel good," Pony whimpered.

"I know, little buddy. Let me just take your temperature okay? Can you open your mouth for me?" Darry said.

Pony opened his mouth and Darry slipped the thermometer under his brother's tongue, only this time he held it there instead of having Pony hold it.

"104," Darry announced. I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat right there.

"Should we call the doctor?" I asked.

Darry didn't answer my question.

"We need to bring his temperature down right now," he said, looking down at Ponyboy, whose eyes were still closed and he seemed to have no clue what was going on.

"How?" I asked.

"Go start the bath, fill it with fresh soapy water. This kid could use a bath. I'll be there in a minute," Darry ordered.

I didn't question what he was saying. I got up and out of bed and did as I was told, testing the water temperature with my hand. A few minutes later, Darry came in, carrying Ponyboy in his arms before settling him down on the closed toilet seat.

"Darry, wha's goin' on?" Pony mumbled groggily, his eyelids drooping, heavy from sleep.

"We're gonna bring your temperature down, okay, kiddo?" Darry said. "We're gonna make you feel better."

Ponyboy didn't seem to gather much of what Darry had said. With my help, we managed to take his shirt off. Once we got to his underwear, he whimpered and made a weak move to stop us.

"Pony, we've seen you naked before. You don't need to be shy, okay?" I whispered in his ear reassuringly. Pony mumbled something unintelligible in response but when we attempted to remove his underwear again, he didn't object this time. Once all his clothes were off, Darry picked him up again and gently laid him down in the fresh water of the bath. Pony barely reacted to the contact of the water. Darry stepped back to get two washcloths from the closet and handed one to me.

Using the water from the bath and the washcloths, we started running the towels on Pony's upper chest, his neck, his face, the back of his ears, his hair. Eventually, Ponyboy slowly started relaxing into the water, even humming softly in content when I ran the dripping washcloth over his hair. After about fifteen minutes of this, Ponyboy was completely relaxed, his features peaceful.

A few minutes later, I pulled the plug from the bottom of the bath and Darry left to get clean clothes for Ponyboy. Together, we helped dry him off and get him into his clothes, and Darry carried him back into his bed. Finally, my older brother took Ponyboy's temperature again.

"103.5," he announced. "Still high, but under control."

We exchanged looks. Ponyboy didn't seem to be fully aware of what had happened.

"I think we should still call the doctor," I insisted. "He ain't well and…"

"It's not worth it, Soda. The doctor will be here tomorrow morning anyway," Darry answered. "We have this under control for now."

I bit my lip and nodded, shooting a worrying look at my baby brother, sound asleep for the moment.

XxX

*Pony's POV*

"Pony?" I heard a very distant voice call. "Pony can you hear me?"

I moaned. Every single square inch of my body was killing me. No word could describe how horrible I felt.

"Ponyboy, the doctor's here," the voice insisted. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Strange. I wondered who was sick. Then, I put two and two together and wondered if the pain I was in was because I was sick. I heard from a great distance a chair being dragged to my right. I tried opening my eyes but I was too tired.

"It's fine, you don't need to wake him up," a strangely familiar voice said. "I can do my examination with him sleeping."

I wasn't sleeping, I thought. Or maybe I was, who knows.

"I need to take his temperature, but I can't take it through his mouth in the state he's in," I heard a voice explain. Who were they talking about?

"You boys don't need to stay for this," the same voice added.

"It's okay," a familiar voice answered. Darry, I thought. Or was it Dad?

"Could you roll him on his side for me please?" the first voice asked.

I felt hands gently rolling me onto my side. It only then occurred to me that they were really talking about me. I suddenly felt cold, and realized that the weight from the blankets on me was gone. I felt a piece of fabric slide on my butt. My underwear. What was going on?

I suddenly felt a foreign object, thin, hard and cold enter me _there._ I moaned loudly in protest, the sensation uncomfortable. I attempted to move away from the object, but hands were holding my hips firmly in place. I panicked and lifted one of my heavy arms in a sloppy attempt at hitting whatever was there, but another hand grabbed my wrist. I moaned again.

"Pony, calm down, it's okay," I heard Soda's voice say.

"Soda," I called. He would help me for sure.

"Hey, Pony, relax, okay? You're fine, the doctor just needs to take your temperature," said Soda's voice. I squirmed in discomfort. Why wasn't Soda helping me?

I moaned again, and this time, the thing came out. My underwear were pulled back up and the blankets covered me again. I finally relaxed.

"103.8," a voice I now associated with Dr. Miller said. "His fever really is worrying."

Was I running a fever? I didn't even know that. I was still on my side when I felt something cold and circular touching my back underneath my shirt. I relaxed even more at how good the cool metal felt against my skin. The circular metal object was shifted a few times in sync with my breathing before it was removed. I heard somebody say something again and a hand pushed me back onto my back. I didn't register what was happening as I felt something cold and humid rub onto the inside of my forearm. It smelled strongly of antiseptic. Antiseptic…

Then, I felt it. The prick of a needle on the inside of my forearm. I went wild. A loud scream was heard in the entire room and I realized only a few seconds later that it was from me the scream was coming from. I started screaming for Darry, Soda, even Mom and Dad, struggling to get away from the threat, but was met yet again by strong hands, holding me firmly in place.

"S-soda, make it s-stop, pl-plea-ease make it stop," I whimpered, searching for Soda without seeing him.

"It's almost over Ponyboy, I'm right here, you're fine," Soda said. He wasn't going to help me. Someone had to. I screamed even louder, but my voice broke halfway through and I started sobbing. Why wouldn't Soda help me?

I felt the needle pull out, hands releasing me, but I kept sobbing.

"He's all done, now, Pony," Soda whispered close to my ear. "He ain't gonna stick you with another needle."

"H-He's done?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's done, now shhh…" Soda answered and I felt one of his hands running through my hair as he was saying this.

Something snapped inside of me when he said that and I calmed down.

"That's it, take deep breaths. Now go back to sleep, alright?" Soda said and I felt a finger wiping the tears on my cheeks.

"Stay with me?" I asked, my voice coming out hoarse, probably from screaming.

"Sure little buddy," I heard him say.

I felt an arm drape over my chest softly and I instantly cuddled up next to my brother. Boy, was I tired. I finally stopped trying to stay awake and allowed myself to fall back into a deep slumber, completely exhausted.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Good day, ladies and gents! Here's chapter 8, I hope you like it! I happen to have written chapter 9 as well, so that one will be up tomorrow! Thank you so much to everyone who followed and favorited and reviewed my story! It means a lot to me! Stay gold! x :)**

XxX

*Soda's POV*

When the doctor left this morning, Darry came back into the room and motioned me to come outside. Ponyboy was sound asleep, so I was able to get out of bed slowly without waking him up and without him complaining. Once we were in the hallway, out of Ponyboy's earshot so we wouldn't disturb his sleep, Darry told me everything the doctor told him. That first and foremost, we didn't have to feel sorry about how Ponyboy behaved, that it was bound to happen in his delirious state. Dr. Miller also said that the reason why Ponyboy's fever keeps spiking up to the point where he doesn't even sweat and that he doesn't seem to be getting better is probably because the infection has spread to his bloodstream so the oral antibiotics aren't powerful enough to fight the illness anymore. He also said that Ponyboy is now considered to be a critical case, so he'll have the results from the blood sample by this afternoon and he would be back tonight to adjust Pony's medication. In the meantime, someone should be with him at all times, we should try to get him as coherent and hydrated as possible and try to control his temperature as much as possible.

Darry had to work in the afternoon, so I was the one to stay with Ponyboy. Before he left, my brother made sure everything was gonna be okay and left me the number at his job in case if anything happened. I stayed with Ponyboy all afternoon. It went by smoother than I had expected. Ponyboy tossed and turned in bed, stuck in a feverish sleep, his breaths wheezing. He'd occasionally wake up for a few minutes and the moment he opened his eyes, coughs rattled and shook his body until he went back to sleep. I managed to make him drink a glass of water sometime around two, but he wouldn't eat anything. He'd occasionally whimper or mumble unintelligibly. I was growing more and more worried about him when around five thirty, I heard the front door slam, signifying Darry was home.

Darry had called the gang to tell them not to come over for a couple of days unless they needed a place to crash because Ponyboy was sick and he didn't want them to get sick as well. When they had found out it was pneumonia, all of them agreed to stay away from the Curtis house. I heard footsteps in the hallway and seconds later, Darry walked into the room, still wearing his work clothes.

"How's he?" he asked softly.

I told him honestly how the afternoon went. Darry sighed.

"The fact that we can't get food into him is probably not helping," he said, sitting down on the bed next to his baby brother. The youngest one stirred, frowned and whimpered slightly.

"Pony, hey, can you wake up for me?" Darry called, shaking Pony's shoulder gently.

Ponyboy stirred again and this time, his eyelids fluttered opened. He looked so miserable with his messy hair, bleary eyes and bright red cheeks that it made me want to cry.

"Dar?" he called weakly.

"Yeah, it's me, buddy," Darry brushed Pony's hair back in an attempt at taming it slightly and rested a hand on his forehead. His eyes widened.

"Have you taken his temperature since the doctor took it?" Darry asked. Ponyboy let out a hard cough that resonated in the entire room when I tried to speak the first time. He winced and whimpered slightly.

"No, he wouldn't let me," I finally answered, suddenly feeling stupid for not insisting.

Darry's features hardened. He picked up the thermometer on the bedside table and brought it up to Ponyboy's mouth.

"Open up, Pone," Darry said. Ponyboy opened his mouth and Darry slipped the thermometer under his tongue. I raised my eyebrows at how easily Darry had managed to take Ponyboy's temperature. Ponyboy looked blearily at me as his temperature was taken.

"104.3," Darry said softly, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Should we give him a bath again?" I asked.

Darry shook his head.

"He's too tired and too weak. It's too dangerous," he said. As if on cue, Ponyboy sank back even more into his pillows and fell back into his agitated sleep. "Wait here," he added. Darry got up and left the room. I heard some rummaging in the bathroom and the kitchen and mere minutes later, he came back with a bucket of cold water with ice in it to keep it cold and two washcloths. He barely had time to set the bucket on the floor next to the bed when the phone rang.

"That must be the doctor," Darry said. "Can you take care of this?"

"'Course, Dar," I answered. Darry gave me the washcloths and left in a hurry to answer the phone that was in the living room.

I soaked the washcloth with the water from the bucket and wrung it lightly. I ran the towel along the side of Pony's face, starting from the forehead, to the cheek and the neck. Ponyboy whimpered again, reacting to the cold of the water, eyebrows furrowing.

"Soda…" his voice came out thick with sleep and fever.

"It's okay, Pone, this is gonna help you feel better," I reassured him as I folded the cloth and gently set it on Pony's forehead and went to grab the second cloth. I had my hands over the bucket, wringing the cloth when Pony spoke again.

"Soda, where're Mom and Dad?"

I froze. I looked at him. He still had his eyes closed and he looked so miserable. I couldn't tell him.

"They'll be here soon, Pone," I choked out, ignoring the pain in my heart as I said that. "You got me and Darry for now, okay?"

To my luck, Pony didn't ask where they were.

"Am I sick, Soda?" he asked instead as I ran the second cloth on the back of his neck.

"Yeah, you're sick. Don't talk now, okay?" I answered.

"Soda," he started, but was interrupted by a series of hard coughs.

"Shhh…" I soothed him, sponging his face delicately. "Be quiet, now. Go back to sleep."

Ponyboy stopped trying to talk and allowed himself to relax as Darry walked into the room.

"What's up?" I asked immediately.

Darry sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.

"They found germs in Ponyboy's bloodstream," he said.

I sighed.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Well, the doctor's keeping him on the antibiotics he's taking right now, but he's gonna have to administer another antibiotic by injection," Darry explained. We both knew what that meant.

"More needles?" I sighed, speaking out loud the obvious.

"More needles," Darry repeated. He looked at Ponyboy. Pony didn't seem to have either heard or gathered what we were talking about. He looked even worse than he did when he got sick after Johnny and Dally died. I'd never seen him that sick in my entire life.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter 9, as promised last night! Hope you enjoy it! Feel free to leave a review letting me know what you think of this chapter! Stay gold. x**

XxX

*Darry's POV*

When the doctor arrived around seven that night, we still hadn't managed to control Ponyboy's temperature. It had only gone down to 104. When I told that to the doctor, he looked worried.

"That's not good," he commented as I escorted him to Ponyboy's bedroom, where Sodapop was watching Pony. Soda moved from the chair next to Pony's bed to allow Dr. Miller to sit down. The doctor immediately grabbed Ponyboy's wrist and began taking his pulse.

"Has he woken up since this morning?" he asked.

"Yeah, for a few minutes, but he was delirious, he asked…" Soda gulped, looking down at the floor. "He asked for our parents."

The doctor's face remained serious and professional, but I knew he felt sorry. I exchanged a look with Soda. I shot him a questioning look, trying to find out why he didn't tell me earlier but Sodapop simply shrugged.

"Could you wake him up?" the doctor asked. "I want to assess the effects of the fever for myself."

"I'll try, but I can't promise he'll comply," I answered.

I sat down on the bed on Soda's side of the bed and gently shook Pony's shoulder.

"Pony?" I called. No movement.

"Pony, I need you to wake up for me," I added, shaking Pony's shoulder more sternly. This time, the boy stirred. He stretched and groaned and then, his eyelids fluttered open. His glassy eyes scanned the room as if he didn't know where he was. His eyes stopped on me, on Sodapop, and then on the doctor. I thought he'd have a fearful reaction to the doctor, but he just stared at him, blank-eyed, too weak to even have a reaction.

One second, he was staring at the doctor, the next, he was sitting straight up in bed. It all happened really fast. All of a sudden, he broke into a coughing fit. The coughs were so strong and so sudden he was automatically thrown forward, doubling over on the bed. I rubbed Ponyboy's back, telling him over and over that it was okay. Pony tried to catch his breath but when he did, a strange bubbling sound came from his throat. The doctor seemed to know what was going on, because he grabbed the trash can that was right next to his chair and set in on Ponyboy's lap. I thought he was going to throw up, but instead, when Pony coughed again, blood came out from his mouth, splattering at the bottom of the trash can. Pony suddenly stopped coughing, and cleared his throat tentatively. He spat more blood in the trash can and just sat there, completely shocked.

"Oh my God," he croaked out, staring blankly at the bottom of the trash can. His eyes widened and he started breathing more quickly. "Oh my God!" he repeated, tears threatening to spill, clutching the trash can with both of his hands and staring at the blood at the bottom, seemingly terrified.

The doctor was quick to act.

"It's okay, Ponyboy," he said, taking the trash can away from him and handing it to Soda, who set it out of sight. It was as if Ponyboy hadn't heard the doctor. He was sitting there, blank-eyed, completely panicked, one hand on his throat, gasping for air. Dr. Miller got up from his chair and sat down on the bed so he was closer to Ponyboy. He placed both of his hands on either side of Pony's face and forced the boy to look at him.

"Ponyboy, I want you to calm down, and I want you to breathe. Can you do that for me?" he said gently, but firmly.

"O-okay," Pony stuttered. The doctor was taking deep breaths as Pony tried to match his breathing with his, breaths coming out shaky. I exchanged a look with Sodapop and I knew he was as terrified as I was. I could only watch the scene in front of me, not wanting to interfere with what the doctor was doing.

"That's good, that's awesome. Deep breaths…" Dr. Miller went on, encouraging him as Ponyboy's breathing got more steady. "I'm gonna have you lie down now, all right? Nice and gently," he added, grabbing the back of Ponyboy's neck and head to support him. I went ahead and grabbed his shoulder and his back, supporting his weight as Pony lied back down, tears streaming down his face. "That's it," the doctor said as Pony settled down. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he started coughing again. His features crisp with pain, he tried to sit up again, but the doctor pushed him back down onto his pillows.

"Take it easy, Ponyboy, calm down," the doctor soothed as Pony's cough finally subsided. My brother moaned. He had blood on his chin and on his lips, so Sodapop grabbed one of the washcloth that were in the bucket next to the doctor, wrung it and wiped Ponyboy's mouth and chin gently. The action seemed to comfort Ponyboy as he finally calmed down.

After that, the doctor proceeded to his examination as Sodapop settled down on the same side of the bed as mine. Ponyboy was coherent enough to have his temperature taken by the mouth, thankfully.

"104.1," the doctor frowned, writing the results down on a chart.

He proceeded to listen to Ponyboy's lungs. Soda and I both knew what came next.

"Ponyboy, do you remember getting a blood sample this morning?" the doctor asked.

Pony nodded slowly, apprehension clearly displayed in his feverish eyes.

"Well, we took that blood sample to the lab, and we found out that the reason why you're not getting better is because there are germs in your bloodstream. Because of that, we're gonna have to start using another antibiotic, a stronger one that's gonna make you feel better much faster, by injection."

Ponyboy's eyes widened. He looked from me to the doctor.

"No…" Ponyboy said in disbelief. I looked at the doctor, and he just shook his head.

"It'll be quick, Pony," I tried, rubbing his arm softly.

"No," Ponyboy repeated, his voice small and vulnerable. His eyes filled with tears once again. I knew in the state that he was in, any form of stress could reduce him to tears.

He started crying for good when the doctor got the needle ready next to him. I looked at Soda. This was his area of expertise. Soda switched places with me so he was sitting closer to his baby brother.

"Here, Pony, I'll be right here with you, okay?" he said next to Ponyboy's ear. He pulled his brother up and into his chest so Sodapop was sitting behind Pony and his brother was lying onto his chest. Soda wrapped his arms around Pony's waist.

Pony cried harder when the doctor grabbed his arm just above the elbow and pulled up his sleeve so his shoulder was exposed. The doctor rubbed the area with a cotton ball soaked in antiseptic. Sodapop had his head next to Pony's right ear, whispering sweet nothings, his head strategically placed so Ponyboy couldn't see what the doctor was doing.

When the needle pierced the skin, Ponyboy let out a small sob, but didn't make any attempt at struggling, his right arm lying completely limp and relaxed, too weak and exhausted to resist. The needle went out and Ponyboy's sobs slowly subsided, his shoulder sore. Sodapop was about to let him lie back down when the doctor stopped him.

"Wait," he said. "Darrel, could you get me a glass of water, please?"

"Of course," I said, perplexed as to why the doctor wanted a glass of water. I got up from the bed and left the room to grab a glass of water from the kitchen. I came back as quickly as possible and handed it to the doctor, who handed it to Ponyboy.

"Drink this, you'll feel better," he said to Pony.

Pony sniffed, eyes swollen from having cried so much. He grabbed the cup with two shaky hands and brought it up to his lips. He drank slowly, but he finished the whole glass. The doctor took it back from him and set it on the bedside table. Sodapop moved from behind his brother and helped him lie back down. Ponyboy's eyes soon were drooping from sleep, his breathing evened out and he fell asleep.

"Let's have a word outside," the doctor mouthed.

Soda and I both stood up and followed the doctor out of the room, closing the door behind us. We settled down the same way as before: Sodapop and I on the couch, the doctor sitting straight on the tip of the armchair

"What just happened?" I asked, referring to Ponyboy coughing up blood.

"Coughing up blood is common among pneumonia patients," the doctor answered. "It could be an irritation in his throat from coughing so much, since he didn't cough up much. He panicked at the sight of blood. That is common as well in the state that he's in."

"So, what's the deal?" I asked.

"Well, with the injection, Ponyboy's fever should start reducing in the next twelve hours, and you should see signs of significant improvement from now until tomorrow night. I'll be back at seven tomorrow night to assess his condition. If by tomorrow morning, his temperature is still 104 or higher, take him to the hospital."

I nodded. With that, the doctor stood up and so did we and with a final greeting, walked out the door. We went back to check on Ponyboy to find that he was still asleep. Sodapop settled back down on the chair and started moving the cool cloths on Pony's face again as I left to clean the trash can in the bathroom, praying that Pony's fever would break overnight.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter 10! I hope you like it! I'll try to update chapter eleven as soon as possible! :) Thank you for all the favorites and follows and reviews! Feel free to leave a review letting me know what you think! Big love! Stay gold. 3**

XxX

*Pony's POV*

It was just before five in the morning when I was awoken by an apocalyptic pain in my chest. My chest felt like it was on fire, and no matter how deeply I tried to breathe, I didn't seem to be able to get air into my lungs. I felt like I was suffocating, like a heavy weight was on my chest, preventing me from inhaling at all.

Adrenaline was rushing through my veins. Something was wrong. Really wrong. I tried screaming to wake my brothers up, but no sound came out of my mouth. The pain was deafening. I extended my left arm and slapped my Soda's back repeatedly to wake him up. He woke up with a start.

"What's wrong, Pone?" I heard him ask.

I tried to say that I couldn't breathe, but I could barely articulate. A choked sound came out from my throat as I sat up and doubled over, one hand on my chest and another on my throat in an attempt to dull the pain. My lungs burned for oxygen that I somehow couldn't provide.

"DARRY!" I heard Soda scream next to me. "DARRY, GET IN HERE!"

I heard Darry stumble out of his bedroom as fast as he could and suddenly, the room was flooded with light. The tips of my fingers were tingling and I glanced down at them in my sheer panic to see that they were blue. I started coughing, which only impossibly intensified the pain in my chest. I tried taking deep breaths, but nothing was working.

"His lips are blue, Dar," I heard Soda say.

"I know. We're going to the hospital," I heard Darry answer. I had never hurt this bad in my entire life.

They told each other something else but I was coughing so loudly I didn't hear anything. Darry left and came back seconds later with a pair of pants on. Soda was wearing one too. Soda grabbed a pair of sweatpants from our drawer as Darry picked me up and off the bed. I was starting to see spots. I felt like I was breathing out of a straw.

Darry drove while I lay in the back of the car, my head in Soda's lap. Soda had managed to put the sweatpants he was holding on me before we got to the hospital. Darry sped through the city, the traffic non-existent at this time of the night as I hyperventilated, trying desperately to get air into my burning chest. I kicked the seat in front of me, trying to get Darry to hurry up. I was completely and utterly panicked.

When we got to the hospital, Darry picked me up again and ran with me in his arms in the parking lot, the cold night air contrasting with my burning chest and hot skin. Suddenly, the air got warmer and bright lights illuminated the room I was in. Darry screamed for help and seconds later, my brother set me down on a stretcher, brought in by two nurses. I tried rolling onto my side in an attempt to find air but hands held me firmly on my back. I saw the lights on the ceiling move as the stretcher was being pushed by my brothers and the nurses somewhere I didn't know.

"Sir, you can't go past these doors," I heard one of the nurses say.

I looked at my brothers and let out a small whimper as they let go of the stretcher.

"You're gonna be okay, Pone, we'll be right here waiting for you," I heard Soda say. My vision was starting to go black around the edges.

"Is there anything we should know about his condition?" the nurse asked.

"He's had pneumonia since last Friday, he's being followed by Dr. Walter Miller. He's deathly afraid of needles," Darry enumerated.

"We really must take him in, now," I heard the other nurse say just as my eyes rolled back and darkness surrounded me.

XxX

*Darry's POV*

Soda and I were both anxiously waiting for news about our baby brother. It had been an hour now and I had decided that I would call both the doctor and the gang sometime during the day to inform them of what was going on. It was still dark outside, the waiting room was pretty much empty and Soda was fighting sleep next to me, smoking on a cigarette to settle his nerves. A girl on the radio was whining about her cheating boyfriend. My knee had been bouncing nervously for about half an hour when a doctor wearing it's usual lab coat walked into the room.

"Ponyboy Curtis?" he called. Soda and I both stood up abruptly and walked over to the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Watson, Ponyboy will be my patient during his stay here," the doctor said. "Are you members of the family?"

"I'm Darrel Curtis, Ponyboy's legal guardian, and this is our brother, Sodapop," I answered, shaking the doctor's hand.

"Alright, well, we've managed to stabilize Ponyboy's condition," the doctor explained. "His lungs were filled with liquid, which explains the under-oxygenation and his inability to breathe properly. It's a common complication of pneumonia. You'll be able to see him now, follow me."

We followed him up a flight of stairs and through a hallway, then another. Finally, we stopped in front of a room.

"I have to warn you, before we go in, that this could be a bit of a shock," the doctor warned. My heart skipped a beat. What was he talking about?

"We've put in a chest tube to suck out the liquid from his lungs. He also is attached to five IV's, one for hydration, one for feeding, one for sedatives, one for pain killers and one for antibiotics to fight the bacteria in his bloodstream. We've put him on a ventilator to provide him with oxygen, which is why we need to keep him sedated. As soon as about 50% of the fluids are drained, we'll be able to switch him to an oxygen mask, but it's much safer to have him on a ventilator for now. Due to his fear of needles, we've put restraints on his wrists, but if he is able to control himself, we'll take them off as soon as he wakes up."

I gulped. Restraints. I knew instantly that Ponyboy was gonna flip out when he woke up. The doctor let us in and the sight was heartbreaking. Ponyboy was as pale as the bed sheets. A big blue tube was shoved down his throat and taped around his mouth, his chest rising at an even, mechanical pace. He was wearing a clean hospital gown, and a tube attached to a container was disappearing into the collar of his gown, the container slowly filling with a weird, amber liquid. His hands and forearms were all connected to IV's, all five of them securely taped in place on the young boy's skin. The most heartbreaking part was the restraints on his wrists. All padded with soft wool on the inside, but rigid leather on the outside.

I sank into a chair, resting my hand on Ponyboy's forearm, stroking my brother's skin softly as Soda did the same on the other side, wondering how in the world this escalated so quickly.

XxX

The rest of the day went by agonizingly slow. Ponyboy was heavily sedated and he didn't wake up, or even stir, even when the nurses came and took his temperature. I had called Dr. Miller to inform him of the situation and then called Two-Bit and Steve. They had come over immediately and had tried to come into the room, but the doctor stipulated firmly that it was family only, since Ponyboy was considered a critical case, so Steve and Two-Bit contended themselves with hanging out in the closest waiting room, smoking one cigarette after another, Soda or me occasionally giving them updates on Pony's case. Around mid-afternoon, Dr. Watson had come back into the room and had switched the ventilator with an oxygen mask, which was already a huge relief, because he was also able to take him off the sedatives, which meant Pony was gonna wake up soon.

It took a whole hour for the sedatives to wear off. Ponyboy was lying completely still, his only sign of life shown by the mist forming into the oxygen mask every time he exhaled. Then, all of a sudden, he drew in a breath sharper than the others. His eyebrows furrowed slightly. He stretched slowly and let out a small groan.

"Pony?" Soda called, squeezing Pony's arm softly.

Pony stirred again and his eyes finally fluttered open. He blearily scanned the room around him, still kinda out of it from the sedatives.

"Good morning," Soda greeted, smiling at Pony and brushing his hair back.

"Wha- happened?" Pony mumbled, his voice coming out muffled through the oxygen mask.

"You had fluids in your lungs, Pony, which is why you couldn't breathe right. We took you to the hospital and now the doctor's gonna get you fixed, alright?" I said, but Ponyboy wasn't listening. His eyes had landed on what I dreaded him seeing. The IV's. Two on each arm. His eyes immediately widened. His first reflex was, as expected, to try and remove them from his arms, and that's when he noticed the restraints, keeping his arms from moving. I heard his breath pick up as he pulled at the restraints, whimpering.

"Ponyboy, calm down, they won't loosen up even if you pull on them," I said, placing my hand over the restraint to get him to stop pulling.

He looked at me, wide-eyed, sheer panic written all over his face. He shot me a questioning look, trying to understand what was happening, completely confused.

"Sorry, Pone, the doctor had to make sure you wouldn't remove your IV's. It's just a precaution, baby," I said, trying to be as reassuring as possible.

"Take the IV's out," he said, tears filling his eyes to the brim.

"We can't, Pone, they're gonna make you feel better," I answered, feeling my resolve breaking at how vulnerable he looked.

"Please," Pony whimpered, tears leaking out of his eyes. "Please take them out. I'll hold the pills down I swear…"

"Pony, the pills aren't powerful enough," Soda explained, brushing Pony's hair back softly.

"Please…" Pony repeated as he let out a small sob. He pulled at the restraints again, in vain. I felt my heart breaking, knowing that I was doing this for his own good, and knowing that there was nothing I could do about the restraints or the IV's.

"Do they hurt, Pony? Do you feel them?" Soda asked, motioning to the IV's.

Pony shook his head slowly.

"They're still there, though…" he said, letting out a quivering breath.

"Yeah, but they don't hurt, and they're never gonna hurt, ya dig?" I said as Sodapop used his thumb to brush Ponyboy's tears away from his cheeks. Ponyboy kept on crying.

"Can we take "em off now?" he said, pulling at the restraints for emphasis.

"Are you gonna try to take off your IV's?" I asked.

Ponyboy shook his head resignedly.

"You promise?" I asked.

Ponyboy nodded.

"Okay, well, I'll get the doctor and I'll see what I can do," I said before leaving the room. I came back merely minutes later with the doctor. Ponyboy had stopped crying but his eyes were still red and swollen.

"Hello Ponyboy, I'm Dr. Watson, I'll be taking care of you, okay? You'd like those restraints off?" Dr. Watson asked with a warm smile towards Ponyboy.

Pony nodded, fighting tears, slightly humiliated to have his arms pinned down.

"We can take them off, but you have to promise that you're not gonna pull out your IV's, okay? I understand that you don't like them, but this is really important if you wanna get better, okay?" the doctor explained.

Ponyboy nodded.

"Alright then," the doctor said. He proceeded to untie the restraints from Ponyboy's wrists and once they were off and he had checked the speed of the IV's, he left the room.

Ponyboy eventually calmed down and started getting used to the idea of the IV's. Soda talked to him a little bit, but you could tell that Pony was still exhausted and way out of it.

"Hey, go back to sleep, Pone, alright?" Soda told him, squeezing Pony's shoulder reassuringly. "We'll be right there when you wake up."

Ponyboy turned slightly to the side in his bed and, clutching to Soda's hand, he slowly fell asleep as I rubbed his back softly, thinking about how much things could change in just twenty-four hours.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm incredibly sorry for the long wait! I know I usually post one chapter per week, and it's been two weeks, and I really apologize for that! I have been dealing with some personal struggles of mine right now, and this chapter was also particularly hard to write. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter, please feel free to leave a review letting me know what you think! ;) Big love! Stay gold. x**

XxX

*Pony's POV*

I wasn't allowed out of bed. A bracelet on my wrist stated it, and according to my chart, someone had to be in my room with me at all times because I was prone to "resisting treatment", as they wrote it. That meant ripping out my IVs. As much as I wanted to do that, I wasn't that stupid. First, it would hurt, and second, it would just go right back in. Since I was considered a critical case, my brothers were allowed to stay overnight, but Steve and Two-Bit had to go. I would've liked to see them, but the doctor and the nurses were really strict. Family only. We tried explaining to them that they were family to us, but the nurses wouldn't have it.

Even though the sedatives had worn off, I was still awful tired. The doctor said it was normal, that the pneumonia was really taking it's toll on my body, and also that the pain killers were prone to making me drowsy. So I slept most of the day. The oxygen mask kept shifting when I slept and Soda or Darry kept putting it back in place. The mask was annoying and irritating. I was relieved when around nine o'clock that night, a nurse came in to switch the oxygen mask to an oxygen tube that went right underneath my nose. It felt good to have oxygen though. I could breathe right for the first time in days, and I didn't cough as much. I just hoped I would be out of here quickly. I hated hospitals.

XxX

*Soda's POV*

It was two in the morning, and Darry and I were sipping on coffee from the cafeteria downstairs as Ponyboy slept. The nurses suggested that we went home to get some rest, but Darry said it was out of the question, especially not in Ponyboy's state. Darry and I didn't speak much, too scared to wake up Pony if we did. I yawned between two sips of coffee and looked over at my sleeping baby brother's face, and that's when I noticed something was up.

His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, his eyelids were moving fast, his features seemed to be crisp, as though in pain.

"Pony?" I whispered, resting a hand on his forehead. My eyes widened. He was burning hot. Ponyboy's eyebrows furrowed even more at my touch and he became restless, his breathing shallow. He let out a small whimper.

"Darry, something's wrong," I told Darry. He raised his eyes from his coffee cup and placed the cup quickly on the bedside table.

"He's having a nightmare, I think," Darry said, getting up from his chair. He bent over his brother and shook Ponyboy's shoulder slightly.

Ponyboy's eyes immediately snapped open. He shot up in bed and let out a blood curdling scream. Darry reflexively grabbed Pony's arm to get him to calm down but Ponyboy, out of sheer panic, trashed against Darry's grip. It all happened very fast. He pulled his arm sharply towards his body and as soon as he did that, one of his IV ripped out, the tape coming off and everything. Immediately, Ponyboy's scream turned into a strangled cry. Blood was already seeping out of the gash at an impressive speed. He moaned, features twisted in pain and fear. He started shaking and breathing really fast and as soon as he saw the trail of blood running down his arm, his body lurched forward and he threw up all over the sheets in front of him.

"Pony, it's okay, you're okay," I repeated, rubbing his back as he dry heaved, completely paralyzed by fear and pain. Just as I was saying that, two nurses burst into the room. They were probably alerted by the screams.

"What happened?" one of them said, rushing to my side of the bed.

"He ripped out an IV," I explained. Ponyboy had stopped throwing up by then, but he was still shaking and gasping for air, tears streaming down his face as I kept rubbing his back.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out, looking down at the mess he made on the sheets.

"Shhh… Don't worry 'bout it, Pone," I whispered in his ear.

"Alice, can you restrain the patient while I get new sheets?" the nurse asked in a low voice to the blonde-haired nurse next to her, just loud enough for me and Darry to hear.

"Restraints won't be necessary," Darry said, cutting the nurses. "He had a nightmare and he ripped his IV by accident when he was trashing around. He didn't do it intentionally. We were there."

"Alright, then," the first nurse said after a moment, biting her lip. "We need to get him to lie down."

I brought my lips to Ponyboy's ear.

"Alright, Pone, we're gonna take care of you now, okay?" I told him. "We're gonna have you lie back down, nice and gently."

Darry and I supported Pony's back as he let himself fall back down into the pillow. He was still breathing heavily, tears streaming down his face.

"That's it, little buddy," Darry said as Pony settled down on the pillow. The blonde-haired nurse, Alice, had went to get new sheets and medical supplies on a tray and she was making her way around the foot of the bed. She got on Darry's side of the bed, grabbed some kind of cloth and began applying pressure on Pony's wound as the other nurse removed the soiled sheets on top of Ponyboy.

"It hurts…" Ponyboy mumbled.

"What hurts, Pony?" Darry asked.

"Arm," Pony answered. His chin trembled every time he spoke. "I didn't mean to, I swear…"

"I know, Pone, calm down, they're gonna fix it, okay?" Darry answered as the nurse placed new sheets on top of my baby brother.

"They're gonna put it back in," Pony kept going, getting more and more confused and restless. "They're gonna put the IV back in!"

"Don't get yourself worked up, Pone," I said, brushing the tears away from his cheeks. "You're gonna be fine. Look at me." I placed my hand on his burning cheek, forcing him to look at me. "Breathe. Just breathe, okay?"

Ponyboy took a deep shaky breath as Darry switched sides of the bed to leave Nurse Alice more space and the other nurse, who had finished replacing the sheets, left the room with the soiled ones, leaving us alone with Nurse Alice. She was young, good-looking and had a kind, understanding smile.

"Ponyboy?" she said, still keeping a firm hold on the cloth she was using to stop the bleeding. Ponyboy shifted his blood-shot eyes from my face to hers. "I'm Nurse Alice," she went on with a kind smile. "I'll be taking care of you okay? I'm just gonna start by cleaning and disinfecting the wound and then we're gonna get it all wrapped up, is that okay with you?"

Ponyboy nodded slowly, he seemed to be calming down. His breathing slowed, he stopped crying. The nurse grabbed some kind of wipe and began cleaning Ponyboy's arm, making all the blood that had trickled down his forearm disappear. The wound already looked much better that way. She then grabbed a bottle of disinfectant and soaked a cotton pad in the clear solution.

"This might sting a little, okay?" she warned before starting to clean the wound with the cotton pad.

As soon as the pad touched the skin, Ponyboy hissed and let out a strangled whimper, features once again crisp with pain. However, the nurse was quick to finish up and soon, she was wrapping a bandage around Ponyboy's arm, securing it with medical tape. Ponyboy eyed her apprehensively as she got a new IV tube and tape ready. I spotted it too, and I also noticed the flash of fear in Pony's eyes.

I half-climbed on the bed and pulled Pony into my arms, holding him close to my chest to try and reassure him. He started crying again when the nurse gently grabbed his hand and began to disinfect the top of it. I knew that around strangers, Pony usually acted really tough, especially around girls. He must've been under a lot of stress and feeling really terrible.

"It's okay, Pony," I said, stroking his hair back with one of my hands. Darry was standing next to me, ready to restrain Ponyboy if necessary.

"Now, Ponyboy, this is just gonna hurt for a few seconds," the nurse warned as she approached the needle to his hand. Ponyboy tried to turn around and look at the size of the needle, but I placed my hand on the side of his face and pulled him back into my chest to prevent him from seeing anything that would freak him out. He clutched at the front of my shirt with his free hand, and as soon as the needle pierced the skin, he started crying harder, but made no move to free his hand from the nurse. He kept crying into my chest as the nurse securely taped the IV in place on his hand.

"We're all done, now," she finally said. "You've done really great, Ponyboy."

Ponyboy stopped crying as hard and I gently laid him back down, getting off the bed.

"I'm just gonna need to take your temperature, then you can go back to sleep, okay?" the nurse said. Ponyboy nodded. That was much easier. He brushed his tears hurriedly with the back of his hand. The nurse shook the mercury in the thermometer before inserting it in Ponyboy's mouth. She waited for a few minutes, then took it out. Her eyes widened.

"103.9," she said. "It's spiked up again."

"Is there anything we can do?" Darry asked worriedly.

The nurses handed him a cloth from the tray.

"Use a cool cloth and run it on his face and neck. You can use the sink in the bathroom," she said. "I'll be at the nurse's station if you need me."

Darry thanked her for everything and with that, she left. Darry went in the bathroom in Pony's room to wet the cloth the nurse had given him.

"You can go back to sleep now, Pony," I told my baby brother.

"I can't," he said simply. I knew how hard it was for him to fall asleep after a nightmare.

"Ponyboy, you need some rest if you wanna get better," I insisted.

"I can't," he repeated. Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Would you like me to give you a back rub?" I asked him.

"Right now?" Pony asked, uncertain. "I can't lie on my back 'cause of the chest tube."

"That's alright," I answered. "You can just lie on your side."

Darry came back into the room with the wet cloth and settled back down on his side of the bed. Ponyboy slowly rolled over on his side so he was facing Darry. The hospital gown was exposing his back. I began rubbing it gently as Darry began running the cool cloth on Pony's face, neck and behind his ears. Ponyboy seemed to relax almost instantly.

"I don't feel good, Dar," Pony mumbled groggily.

"I know, it's because your fever's really high right now," Darry explained to him. "You'll feel much better once it's back down."

"I wanna go home," he added, a slight whimper in his voice.

"You'll be home soon, Pony," Darry answered. "Just relax for now, okay? Try to sleep."

I rubbed Ponyboy's back for a good fifteen minutes, until finally, I felt him completely relax, his breathing becoming deep and regular again. He was fast asleep. A sheen of sweat forming all over his body probably meant that the fever was already breaking. I exchanged a look with Darry. That night would definitely be featured in the top ten of the most consuming, difficult nights of my life.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! Here it is! The last chapter of Breathe! This is a very long chapter, but I still believe you will enjoy it.**

 **First and foremost, I would really like to thank every single one of you for reading and supporting this story. Thank you for favoriting my story, and thank you to everyone who reviewed. Writing means the world to me, and I'm so glad I'm being supported by so many of you. You guys make me very happy! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review letting me know what you thought of the story overall! I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! Stay gold. x**

XxX

*Pony's POV*

When I woke up the next morning, I felt much better than I did a few hours earlier. The wound in my arm was still pretty sensitive, but it didn't hurt much anymore. I blamed the painkillers for that. I took a deep, tired breath through my nose, breathing in pure oxygen and I yawned. Light from the window outside was flooding the hospital room.

"Good morning," Soda greeted as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Morning," I mumbled back, setting my arms back down. "What time is it?" I asked.

"It's almost 9AM," Soda answered, brushing my hair back softly. "You feeling better?"

I nodded, blinking tiredly. Only then did I notice that Darry was missing.

"Where's Darry?" I asked.

"He's just outside the room with the doctor," Soda answered. "The doc wanted to know what happened during the night."

Last night. I looked down at the bandage on my arm, suddenly ashamed of myself for panicking so much.

"Sorry for getting so worked up," I said.

"Don't worry "bout it, Pony," Soda reassured me. "We all know you couldn't help it. You don't have to feel bad, savvy?"

I nodded. A few seconds later, Darry walked back into the room, followed by the doctor, who was carrying a tray of medical supplies with him. Darry settled back into his chair and the doctor stood next to Darry.

"Hello, Ponyboy," the doctor greeted with a warm smile. "Are you feeling better?"

I nodded again. I didn't feel like talking very much.

"That's good," the doctor commented. "I'm just going to take a look at your wound and change the bandage while I'm at it. Is that okay?"

I nodded one more time. The doctor proceeded to remove the bandage on my arm, exposing the wound. It didn't look as bad as it did last night, since it wasn't bleeding anymore or anything, but the inside of the bandage was stained with dried blood. The doctor prodded at the wound a little bit, stretching the skin and examining the wound, which made me wince occasionally. He eventually concluded that I wasn't gonna need stitches and he wrapped up the wound again in clean bandages, taping it firmly in place.

"Alright, I'm just gonna need to take your temperature and listen to your lungs and then we'll be done for this morning," the doctor said.

He shook the mercury in the thermometer he was holding and slipped it under my tongue. As we were waiting for the results, the doctor checked and adjusted the speed of the IVs. When he was done, he took out the thermometer, which read 101.3. He then made me sit up in bed and he proceeded to listen to my lungs.

"All is looking good, Ponyboy," the doctor commented as he wrapped his stethoscope back around his neck. "I can now say without a doubt that you're expected to make a full recovery. Your lungs seem to have cleared out, and you're temperature's down again. With what I'm seeing this morning, if your temperature doesn't spike up again today and if all looks good, we should be able to release you tonight."

It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest. I was going home tonight. I wasn't spending another night in this place. I couldn't help but let out a small smile.

"Another thing. If you agree on eating and drinking something today, we can take two IVs out this morning, if you would like," the doctor added.

"Oh my God, please!" I blurted out, letting out a sigh of relief.

Soda, Darry and the doctor all laughed and I let out a small giggle, blushing slightly.

"I'll take that as a yes," the doctor said. "Just hold still and it won't hurt, okay?" With that, he removed the tape and delicately took a needle out of one arm, then another. He unhooked two IV bags on the pole next to my bed. "Is there anything else you would like before I leave?"

"A shower," I answered honestly. "Can I?"

"I'm afraid not. You shouldn't get out of bed yet," the doctor answered. "But I can send a nurse in to give you a sponge bath."

I felt myself go red in the face at the thought of a stranger washing my entire body. Entire. Body. Soda must've noticed my embarrassment because he jumped in before I could answer.

"Could me and Darry give him the sponge bath instead?" he asked. Relief washed over me. That would definitely be less embarrassing.

"If you want to," the doctor answered. "I'll still send a nurse in to show you how to do it, but I don't see why it would be a problem."

"Alright, thanks Doc," Darry said. With that, the doctor left the room, leaving us alone.

XxX

*Darry's POV*

After the doctor left, a nurse brought in a breakfast tray for Ponyboy. He ate half of it slowly, but the grogginess from the medication soon took over and he went back to sleep. It wasn't much, but I was relieved to see Ponyboy eating again though. Another nurse came in about two hours later with a trolley containing three big basins, one empty, one with soapy water and one with clear water and several towels and washcloths. She explained to us how to wash Pony's hair and the rest of his body properly, without wetting the sheets. Once she had left, Soda and I both grabbed washcloths and started working together at washing Ponyboy as fast as possible. It still took a good hour, since him being in bed made the job ten time harder, but he helped out as much as he could, him still being able to move by himself and all. He wasn't as shy as I thought he would be. He even completely relaxed and occasionally hummed in content when Soda was washing his hair. The only really embarrassing part for both him and us was the private parts. I tried to make it as quick and efficient as possible but it didn't stop Ponyboy from blushing furiously and squirming uncomfortably occasionally.

When we were finished, Ponyboy settled back down, looking more fresh and relaxed than he did. It didn't take him long for him to fall asleep nurse came back to take away the dirty water and the washcloths and towels that were used. I took the opportunity of Ponyboy being asleep to go call Two-Bit and Steve.I decided to call at the DX, since I figured Steve was probably covering up Soda's shift.

"DX gas station, how can I help you?" came Steve's voice from the receiver.

"Steve? It's Darry," I said.

"Oh, hey Darry. How's Pony?" Steve asked. "Two-Bit and I were thinking of dropping by when I get off at four."

"Pony's fine. He had a rough night but he's feeling better," I answered honestly. "Listen, could you do something for me?"

"Anything, what is it?"

"Could you stop by our house before you come over and get some clothes from Pony's room? If all goes according to plan, he's coming out tonight, and he hasn't got anything to wear," I explained.

"Sure, we can do that. Listen, I've got to go, but I'll see y'all later, okay?" Steve said.

"Alright, thanks a lot, Steve," I said.

"No problem," I heard him say, and with that, he hung up.

XxX

Ponyboy slept for the entire day after that. It felt good just to hear him breathe without straining or wheezing, breathing in pure oxygen greedily. Soda was napping as well, his face resting on the mattress next to Pony's hand when around five in the afternoon, Two-Bit and Steve walked into the room. I guess Ponyboy wasn't considered a critical case since the two boys were allowed in.

"Gooood-" Two-Bit started but he cut his loud greeting short when I glared at him and he saw Pony fast asleep in his hospital bed. He didn't wake up Ponyboy, but Soda stirred at the sound of Two-Bit's voice and slowly sat back up in his chair, rubbing his face with his hand.

"How's the kid?" Steve asked quietly, dropping a bundle of clothes on the edge of the bed.

"Thanks," I said, nodding towards the clothes. "He's getting better. He's getting out tonight, as far as I know."

"What's with the bandage?" Two-Bit asked, jerking his head towards Pony's arm.

"He ripped an IV out by accident," Soda explained.

Pony suddenly stirred in his sleep and slowly turned onto his side, facing Soda. I thought he was gonna wake up but he just kept on sleeping as Sodapop grabbed hold of Pony's hand and rubbed his brother's knuckles gently with his thumb.

"He's sleeping a lot, isn't he?" Two-Bit commented.

"They've got him on some pretty heavy drugs right now that make him really groggy," I explained.

Sodapop brushed back a strand of Pony's un-greased hair that was falling in his eyes. Ponyboy's eyelids fluttered slightly, but he slept on.

Two-Bit and Steve stayed with us over dinner time. Ponyboy had woken up about an hour after the arrival of Steve and Two-Bit, when the nurse brought in his dinner tray. He had barely finished eating half of his bowl of soup when the doctor came in, greeting all of us. He listened again to Ponyboy's lungs and took Pony's temperature, which came out as 100.8. The doctor also removed Pony's oxygen tube for about five minutes and since my brother seemed to have no problem breathing without it or having any shortness of breath, the doctor released him. He removed the IVs from his arms and the chest tube, which seemed to be a particularly painful experience, even though Pony tried not to show it, as Steve and Two-Bit were there. The doctor taped a dressing plaster on top of the wound left by the chest tube and then, he was done.

Soda helped Ponyboy into his clothes as the doctor gave me instructions for when we were home.

"Make sure that he gets plenty of rest. He doesn't need to stay in bed, but he should take it easy and stay home. You can keep taking the rest of the oral antibiotics prescribed by Dr. Miller, and you should keep him out of school for the rest of the week. You can remove the bandage and the dressing this Sunday. The wounds should have healed by then," he said.

I thanked him for everything, and after that, we were free to go. The procedure of getting out of the hospital was pretty simple. The nurses got Ponyboy into a wheelchair, I signed some papers at the front desk and we took care of wheeling Ponyboy out of the hospital and settling him down in the back seat of the truck. Steve and Two-Bit parted with us as they left in Two-Bit's car. Sodapop sat in the backseat with Ponyboy as I drove all the way home. Ponyboy fell asleep on Sodapop's shoulder almost as soon as we pulled out of the hospital parking lot. He must've been really tired, because when we got home, we found ourselves completely unable to wake him up.

"Come on, Pone, let's get you in," Soda said, shaking Pony's shoulder. Pony just moaned in response and kept on sleeping.

"Here, I'll carry ya," I told Ponyboy, as I gently picked him up into my arms. I carried him into the house and into his bedroom, setting him down gently on the bed. I took off his pants and tucked him into the sheets just as Sodapop was slipping right next to his brother, wrapping a protective arm around him.

"I'll go to bed, okay?" I told Soda. "If anything happens, holler, alright?"

"Alright," Soda mumbled, already half-asleep.

"Night," I said, closing the bedroom light.

"Night, Soda answered, cuddling a little closer to his baby brother.

XxX

"Ponyboy, stop scratching, will ya?" I called from the kitchen.

"But it itches!" Ponyboy protested from the couch in the living room. "Why can't I take it off?"

"What day is it?" I asked.

"It's Sunday," Pony said. "The doctor specifically said Sunday."

"Fine, you can take it off, but be gentle," I answered.

I walked into the living room to see Ponyboy, lying on the couch with a blanket around his lower-half, lifting up his shirt and picking at the dressing on his chest, trying to rip it off. Sodapop, Two-Bit and Steve were all scattered around the living room as well, watching TV, Two-Bit and Steve sipping on beer and Soda eating chocolate cake.

"Need help with that?" I asked Pony, sitting down next to him on the couch.

"Sure," Ponyboy said.

I leaned on him and pinched the edge of the tape between my thumb and forefinger. In one swift motion, I ripped the tape off of my brother's skin.

"OW!" Ponyboy screamed.

"There, you wanted to take it off, I took it off," I laughed. "You happy?"

Pony didn't answer, bringing his shirt down over the scar left by the chest tube.

"Here, let me take your temperature," I said, grabbing the thermometer from the bedside table.

"Why? I feel fine," I answered.

"Your temperature needs to be normal for twenty-four hours for you to be able to go to school. Open up," I said, bringing the thermometer to his mouth.

"98.9," I said after Ponyboy had held the thermometer under his tongue for a few minutes. "All good to go to school tomorrow!"

"Yay," Pony answered with fake enthusiasm, rolling his eyes.

I chuckled, pulling the blanket up to Pony's chest.

"Have you taken your medication?" I asked.

Ponyboy nodded.

"Good," I said. "You guys staying over for dinner?" I added towards Two-Bit and Steve.

"Sure," they both answered at the same time.

I smiled to myself as I made my way back to the kitchen. Everything was back to normal. Ponyboy was okay now. The last week or so had been tough. We even thought we would lose him at one point, but he was tough, and he made it through everything. I always admired that kid's resilience. From losing our folks, to losing Johnny and Dallas, to being almost taken away from my custody, he went through more things than kids his age should. A weaker kid than him wouldn't have made it through, but he always did. He definitely never stopped impressing me. He was talented, he was strong, he was resilient, but most of all, he was gold. And if he ever thought of giving up, Soda and I would be there. We'll always be there.


End file.
